There’s something about the Korean spirit that challenges its business tycoons to leave a public legacy, and it often results in museums — and we swear, Korea must have more museums per capita than any country in the world. Even people who aren’t tycoons have founded world-class museums, such as Jeju’s Sung Bum-young, a gardener whose Spirited Garden of bunjae (bonsai) trees is breathtaking, memorable, and somewhat awe-inspiring.

And that’s the case with founder Chyung Mi-sook’s Korea Furniture Museum. This museum sits on the home site of the last Joseon emperor (Emperor Gojong?), and incorporates his house along with nine others (some of which were brought to the site, others were built there). The collection comprises some 2500 pieces of Korean furniture, most of from the Joseon era, and 100-250 years old. Some 500 pieces are on display. The woods from which many of the pieces in the collection were crafted may be unfamiliar to westerners, including Paulownia and Zelkova, which have stunning grain patterns.

The site itself is breathtaking, and reminds us here at WoWasis of the Getty Museum, when it was located in Malibu. It commands a magnificent view of Seoul, and the outer walls of the old fortress, which are magnificent when lit at night. The architecture of the ten houses and their integration is stunning. But no pictures allowed. And this leads to the secretive aspect of the museum that it somewhat disconcerting, yet serves the purpose of keeping the environs serene. Easy access museums in Korea can be challenging to enjoy peacefully, given busloads of ever-present screaming schoolkids, and one guesses that Mrs. Chyung wants to keep the museum’s aura of stateliness. So we’ll give her credit for keeping away school buses and tour buses.

The museum is only open Wednesday through Saturday, by guided tour only. There are 6 daily guided tours, only the last of which (6 pm) is given in English. No photographs whatsoever are allowed once inside the gates, and there are neither brochures, guidebooks, nor books of any kind that describe the collection. You have to do it on memory. While on tour, questions are answered, but not exactly welcomed. And no questions are answered regarding the founder, who was formerly a professor at Yonsei University.

Which is a shame, especially for a furniture museum. Furniture collectors are a rare breed, collecting moveable art. Unlike paintings which are meant to be looked at, furniture is meant to be used. Except for museum furniture. From a three-dimensional perspective, high-design furniture is home sculpture. Those who have a big enough passion for furniture that they make it a point of visting furniture museums always have questions, it seems. When we visited the Wallace Collection in London, we wanted to know about Wallace. How did he make his money, what drove him to collect? How did he build his collection? All private museums built by private entrepreneurs beg these questions. How did Isabella Stewart Gardner utilize Bernard Berenson to build her collection? Did they ever disagree?

Those conducting the tours at the Korea museum have to ask permission before they answer any questions regarding the founder, so Mrs. Chyung will remain elusive for now. Perhaps she’ll write a book, and reveal all. And BTW, a scholarly book on this formidable collection, with good color pictures, does need to be written.

The museum is tough to get into. The museum’s website is essentially a one page reservation form. We called, and the person answering the phone told us to send an email requesting a tour time. That email was never answered. Finally, we went to a Tourist Information kiosk, and they made a reservation for us. It still wasn’t easy, combining a subway trip with a cab ride (navigating through the labyrinthian Jongno 3-ga metro station to change lines caused us to be few several minutes late). So let’s just say that since a westerner can neither book by phone nor email, it’s not exactly westerner-friendly.

There are some great museums in Korea, and this is in the top tier. We suggest asking the Tourist Info kiosk folks to help you. Your tour guide at the museum won’t give you the warm fuzzies, but the museum is an experience that’s unique in Korea, and one of the world’s treasures.

Korea Furniture Museum
330-577 Seongbuk-dong
Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
Tel: (02) 745-0181
Open Wed-Sat, by reservation only
www.kofum.com